Interview: Avengers: The Initiative

On the 4th of October 2009 LotsofInterviews.com conducted an interview with Christos Gage about his "Avengers: The Initative" book and how it is effected by "Dark Regin". We talk cast changes to the book, how he picked which villians to enter the Initiative, team names and supervillians.

Has it been longed planned for Ragnarok to return?

I think so, going back to his appearance in a stasis tube in

issue #1!

The last arc featured the loss of Mutant Zero from the

Shadow Initiative, why is it she left the book?

She was always sort of "on loan" from the Daredevil folks. It seemed like a good time to give her back, seeing as she was no longer Mutant Zero...her Typhoid Mary personality had returned.

Why is it you narrowed down the MVP clones to only one active one?

I know some people disagree with this, but I felt like having just one made him more interesting and unique. Also, the loss of his "brothers" will force him to become his own man, when he was designed for the opposite. To me that's interesting character stuff!

How did you choose which villains to enter The Initiative in this book? Were there some characters you wanted to use but couldn’t?

Sure, for instance I wanted to make the Wrecking Crew the Initiative team for Michigan but they were being used elsewhere. That’s just how it goes in a shared universe. For the most part I've gotten to do most of what I wanted to, which involved taking cool but not necessarily high profile characters--because you can do the coolest stuff with them--and putting them in the spotlight. The issue I'm most proud of is #27, which takes two characters who appeared once before in the '80s and puts them front and centre for half an issue to tell the story from their POV. I love doing stuff like that.

We saw the Great Lake Avengers in issue 25, are we going to be seeing any more of them?

No plans right now, but you never know!

Now that Prodigy is head of the Heavy Hitters, are we going to be seeing more of them?

Yes, in a big way in issue #28!

Do you find it harder writing for characters like Norman Osborn and the Hood when they are appearing in so many different comics at the moment?

No, I try to stay true to the characters as established but every writer has their own style and I don't think it's necessary or desirable to try too strictly to give them the exact same voice every time. Warren Ellis' Norman will sound subtly different from Brian Bendis' Norman. As long as the basic character is consistent, I think that's fine...in fact I prefer it that way.

Why did you choose to name Gauntlet’s new team “Avengers Resistance” instead of just “The New Warriors”?

Because characters like Tigra and Gauntlet aren't New Warriors; Tigra, Justice and Rage are former Avengers; and to me, the Avengers Resistance most clearly suggests what they're doing--fighting the current system and trying to reclaim the Avengers name.

Now that Baron Von Bitzschlag is around other villains, are we going to see a more villainous side to him?

He'll probably act the same way he always has...the Baron has never been one to censor himself!